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  Hand dryerRelated Patent Categories: Electric Resistance Heating Devices, Specific Application:, Concentrated Heated Air Stream (i.e., Blast), For Drying Body PartHand dryer description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070263994, Hand dryer. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a hand dryer, of the type of the comprising: a casing, a drying chamber integrated in the casing for inserting hands, means for propelling air at room temperature at a high speed, presence or proximity detectors for the automatic actuation of the dryer when the user inserts his or her hands in the drying chamber, an electronic control card, means for collecting the water released from the user's hands during drying, and at least two air outlet groups arranged in opposite front and back walls of the drying chamber, each of said groups comprising several outlets. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Different hand dryers are known today which have a drying chamber so that the user can insert his or her hands therein and dry them, said drying chamber having outlets for projecting air on the user's hands. [0003] Patent document JP2000245652 discloses a hand dryer having a drying chamber tilted towards the front area for inserting the user's hands and provided with air outlet orifices arranged in the side and upper walls of said drying chamber. Said orifices are connected by means of multiple ducts to a blower propelling the air towards said outlets. The side and upper arrangement of the outlets prevents the projected air from simultaneously acting on the obverse and reverse sides of two hands, requiring the user to change his or her hands from their position in order to completely dry them. [0004] Patent document JP2002034847 discloses a hand dryer having a drying chamber closed on all its sides and provided with an upper mouth for inserting the user's hands. Said drying chamber has in opposite front and back walls respective rows of air outlet orifices, requiring the user to move his or her hands during drying so that the supplied air can act on different areas of his or her hands, prolonging drying time. The air projected through the two rows of orifices is supplied by a single ventilator and guided through a single inner chamber towards the two opposite sides of the dryer, which causes the airflow to split and changes in direction, generating significant pressure drops in the air conduction and an outlet speed reduction. [0005] Patent document DE548998 discloses a hand dryer having a considerably spherical drying chamber open at one of its ends and inside of which two nozzles are arranged in opposite positions that are responsible for projecting the air onto the user's hands inserted in the aforementioned chamber. [0006] In this patent the nozzles or outlets have a small surface, requiring the user to move his or her hands inside the chamber in order to dry them. In addition, the vertical orientation of the air nozzles or outlets necessitates that the hands be inserted inside the chamber in a considerably horizontal position, preventing the force of gravity from assisting the air outlets in eliminating the water existing on the user's hands. [0007] In patent document GB2249026 discloses a hand dryer with a chamber for inserting the user's hands. Said chamber has in one of its sides an elongated air outlet opening in the shape of a blade, said opening being connected to an air supply duct by means of an enveloping hollow surrounding the aforementioned drying chamber. [0008] In this patent, the elongated shape of the air outlet opening determines that the projected air blade or curtain acts on a small surface of the hand inserted in the drying chamber, requiring the user to move his or her hand inside the aforementioned chamber to effectively dry the entire surface of his or her hand. [0009] Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,619 discloses a hand washing and drying device having a working enclosure or chamber tilted towards the lower back area and provided with a mouth in the upper front area for inserting the hands to be washed and dried. Said chamber has an orifice at the upper portion for the outlet of the water required to wash hands and an air outlet in which propulsion means are associated, forming a dryer strictly speaking. [0010] In this patent the user must insert his or her hands inside the chamber in order to wash and then dry them, the projection of the air on the hands being done in the same way as in the previously discussed patents, in virtually a very localized manner, requiring the user to move his or her hands inside the chamber in order to completely dry them, this operation involving an excessive time. [0011] Patent document EP0589568 discloses a hand dryer having a hand insertion unit which is tilted towards the lower back area and open towards the upper front area and the sides, said hand insertion unit having outlets in the two front and back faces provided with respective alignments of orifices for projecting respective air curtains on the obverse and reverse sides of the user's hands inserted in a tilted position inside the drying unit. [0012] In this case, like in the aforementioned patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,619 the user's hands are inserted in the drying unit in a tilted position, therefore gravity has little effect on eliminating the water deposited on the hands towards the lower area of the chamber. Also with the described embodiment, in patent EP0589568 the projection of air on the user's hands is done in localized areas, requiring the user to move his or her hands inside the drying unit so that the air can act on different areas of his or her hands. [0013] In some of the mentioned documents the projection of air on the hands is done at high pressure, being propelled by turbines connected to the mentioned outlets by means of pipes generating turbulences in the circulating air and considerably reducing the air outlet speed towards the drying chamber or unit. [0014] One of the mentioned dryers also has at the bottom of the drying chamber or unit a drain pipe for draining the water released by the user's hands towards a drain (U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,619) or towards a water collection tray (EPO589568), this second case requires manually emptying the water collection tray on a rather frequent basis. [0015] If this tray is not emptied as frequently as it should be, the water accumulated therein will end up overflowing and falling towards the lower area, with the subsequent risk of damage to the dryer and of spilling onto the user. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0016] The hand dryer object of the present invention has a series of constructive particularities aimed at allowing high-speed air projection at room temperature and simultaneously on the entire surface of the obverse and reverse sides of the user's hands, said drying chamber having to that end a plurality of orifices distributed on the entire surface of the opposite walls of said drying chamber. [0017] Another object of the invention is to prevent the ducts that are responsible for conducting the air provided by the high-speed air propulsion means to the outlets of the drying chamber from causing a considerable decrease in said speed of the circulate airflow, the dryer having to that end hollow air distribution chambers arranged inside the casing and opposite to the opposite walls of the drying chamber, each of said hollow chambers being formed by respective pairs of front and back plates mutually opposite and fixed to one another by way of a sandwich. [0018] Said hollow chambers comprise: a mouth for the inlet of high-speed air supplied by the propulsion means, inner channels for the conduction and distribution of air through the inside of said hollow chambers with a low coefficient of friction and plurality of air outlet orifices defined in the front plates of each of the hollow chambers and opposite to the respective orifices of the opposite walls of the drying chamber. [0019] The aforementioned hollow chambers, with a relatively flattened configuration, have a surface that is equal to or somewhat smaller than the surface of the opposite walls of the drying chamber such that the air supplied by the high-speed air propulsion means is conducted directly by said hollow chambers towards the inside of the drying chamber. [0020] To increase the air outlet speed it has been provided that the front plates of the hollow chambers externally have tubular extensions arranged in correspondence with the air outlet orifices defined in said front plates, these orifices having a decreasing section inside the aforementioned tubular extensions. [0021] Taking into account that said hollow chambers have respective pluralities of orifices for projecting air towards the inside of the drying chamber, it has been provided that the air propulsion means are formed by two turbine motors housed inside the casing and directly and independently connected to the respective inlet mouths of the hollow chambers, each of the turbine motors supplying high-speed air to the respective hollow chamber. Continue reading about Hand dryer... Full patent description for Hand dryer Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Hand dryer patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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